James L. Abbruzzese, M.D. FACP, FASCO, DSc (hon) is the Duke Cancer Institute Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Medical Oncology at Duke University. From November 2013 through June 2021 he served as the Chief of the Duke Division of Medical Oncology and the Associate Director for Clinical Research for the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI).  Dr. Abbruzzese is a leading expert in the clinical study and treatment of pancreatic cancer and clinical trial methodology in solid tumor oncology. Before moving to Duke in 2013, he held the Waun Ki Hong Distinguished Chair in Translational Oncology and he was Chairman of the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Digestive Diseases at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  

Dr. Abbruzzese earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also completed clinical fellowships in Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and in Medical Oncology and the Research Laboratory of Neoplastic Disease Mechanisms under Dr. David Livingston at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard Medical School. Before his recruitment to Duke University he spent most of his professional career at M.D. Anderson, where he progressed through the ranks to assume leadership positions as Chairman of the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Associate Vice-Provost for Clinical Research.  

Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Abbruzzese is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has co-authored more than 450 research publications and numerous book chapters and is a past Chair of the Clinical Trials and Translational Research Advisory Committee of the National Cancer Institute. He has also served as the Chair of the NCI Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Progress Working Group.